Reporter Mary Jo McConahay felt like she'd heard the story from Life of Pi, long before she read the book. Turns out, the book was inspired by Brazilian book by a noted and respected author. McConahay traveled to the man's home town and short time after the author, Moacyr Scliar, died.

The music world has paid tribute to singer and former Velvet Underground frontman Lou Reed, who died on Sunday aged 71. To many fans, Lou Reed represents the dark and dangerous side of the Lower East Side in New York. But in 1973, Lou Reed recorded an album that moved the doom and gloom to East and West Berlin.

Germans love their bottled water: still, fizzy, flavored or plain. But there's a movement afoot to get them to embrace tap water, not just for its environmental benefits but because Berlin, in particular, has too much water on-hand at the moment.

Germany has just received the first plane-load of Syrian refugees fleeing their civil war back home. And up to 5,000 more are expected. But some believe Germany shouldn't pat itself on the back just yet for the humanitarian gesture.

Mark Schneider has been obsessed with Napoleon since he was a kid. Now, he's in the running to play the famous French general at the 200th anniversary re-enactment of the Battle of Waterloo in Belgium.

Artists often play a part in the struggle against barriers. The World's Gerry Hadden has been looking into songs that symbolized the struggle against the divided Germany. He didn't find many. But the few he found mostly came from the former East Germany.

Saturday marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. The World's Alex Gallafent reports on the "Titanic" movie you probably haven't seen: a piece of Nazi propaganda from 1943, a film with a story as tragic as the original ocean liner's.